Tension management.

[melchi]

So I am reading this story that is really good. I think I'm about halfway through and things were getting tense.

Too tense

Point being, and some people that are more professional can explain this better but lots of life-or-death situations piled one on top of each other.... well it kinda ruins things.

1.) main character gets cast in the abyss, claws his way back out solo.
2.) MC reunites with party only to find they are trapped and have to fight the boss get out.
3.) Party fights boss, barely winning.
4.) Leave dungeon, batter and bruised then get arrested by the gate guards for false charges.

See the problem with this outline?

At point 3 I'm gritting my teeth. At point 4 I just want to skip ahead or drop if I'm not invested in the characters because it is just too much.

Stories in real life can only take so much pressure before they pop. Maybe it is just me but when I see the tension just ratcheting up it makes me think the author is the guy who keeps shoveling coal into the boiler with a dump grin on their face waiting to see what will happen.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

So I am reading this story that is really good. I think I'm about halfway through and things were getting tense.

Too tense

Point being, and some people that are more professional can explain this better but lots of life-or-death situations piled one on top of each other.... well it kinda ruins things.

1.) main character gets cast in the abyss, claws his way back out solo.
2.) MC reunites with party only to find they are trapped and have to fight the boss get out.
3.) Party fights boss, barely winning.
4.) Leave dungeon, batter and bruised then get arrested by the gate guards for false charges.

See the problem with this outline?

At point 3 I'm gritting my teeth. At point 4 I just want to skip ahead or drop if I'm not invested in the characters because it is just too much.

Stories in real life can only take so much pressure before they pop. Maybe it is just me but when I see the tension just ratcheting up it makes me think the author is the guy who keeps shoveling coal into the boiler with a dump grin on their face waiting to see what will happen.

It means the story is lacking in relief. There needs to be respite between bits of tension, or at least a brief respite. Even in horror it is the same. The tension builds and builds until the monster eats someone, and after that there is a respite. Maybe the cast talks about what they need to do to beat the monster. If you are only ever creating tension the reader will feel tired reading it.

The relief doesn't have to be long, but it is recommended for a bit of relief. But every reader has a different amount of patience for tension, so it depends how long you want to keep your readers on the edge. Some readers love to be forced to suffer with the MC 50 times in a row before they get it right.

 

[Daitengu]

I feel ya man. I've had the same problem with a few stories myself.

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Well, I'm a reader of depressing, tension filled, never ending stories. But that is the kind of reader I am.
It all comes down to what the author has proposed to do. Just know, however, that authors can lose their way in their own world and fail to grasp when it is time for relief, and when it is time to resume conflict.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Sadomasochism.

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Stories in real life can only take so much pressure before they pop.

Also, I would have to disagree with you. Real life can be real scary.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Some people like that.

Look, there is a manga, There Were Times When I Wished You Were Dead
I started reading because it had the tag, Romance.

IT IS NOT A ROMANCE.

It is 110 chapters of PAIN.

the last 5 have started to turn t around, and I read the raws to see how it ends.

there are 2 chapters of romance and 1 chapter of AND THEY GOT MARRIED AND LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Talk about piling the coal. It's a goddamn TRAGEDY. That's my problem. You used the wrong tag. Asshole.

Now, in my story, HKN, I crank up the pressure from chapters 1 to 19 like a blast furnace. But after that, 20 is where it lets up and then, consistently, the MC starts to win. There are setbacks, but the winning is consistent because the MC is the goddamn determinator.

I also have a LOT of complaints about the story, because getting to chapter 20 is HARD. However, if you like this sort of story, anyone who makes it to chapter 20, LOVES my story.

It's odd. There is a demarcation. If you quit by chapter 19, you hate the story. If you are the type to push through, you love my story. I have almost nobody who goes, "MEH".

Some people just like it when the MC gets their teeth kicked in over and over.

HKN will never become a manga, yet There Were Times When I Wished You Were Dead is a manga. If there was any justice in this world, it would be reversed. So, hate to tell you this...

Your tastes may just be in the minority.

 

[Redadam04]

So I am reading this story that is really good. I think I'm about halfway through and things were getting tense.

Too tense

Point being, and some people that are more professional can explain this better but lots of life-or-death situations piled one on top of each other.... well it kinda ruins things.

1.) main character gets cast in the abyss, claws his way back out solo.
2.) MC reunites with party only to find they are trapped and have to fight the boss get out.
3.) Party fights boss, barely winning.
4.) Leave dungeon, batter and bruised then get arrested by the gate guards for false charges.

See the problem with this outline?

At point 3 I'm gritting my teeth. At point 4 I just want to skip ahead or drop if I'm not invested in the characters because it is just too much.

Stories in real life can only take so much pressure before they pop. Maybe it is just me but when I see the tension just ratcheting up it makes me think the author is the guy who keeps shoveling coal into the boiler with a dump grin on their face waiting to see what will happen.

Make the MC suffer again. No pain no gain. Your mc needs to suffer. Suffering in pain is the key for his character growth.

 

[Verdante]

I understand. I can handle a lot of prolonged tension in a story, but there needs to be a relief or a tiny beacon of hope at least (for me). I get used to the tone of the story quick. If the tension is 100 all the time, the next scene is not going to feel any different. It’s more painful to see a tiny sliver of hope get crushed than be in a predictable darkness (for me).

 

[Jemini]

Well, I gotta point out, even Worm, the story famous throughout the internet for just how much shit it piles onto it's characters, had moments of respite at the end of each arc. Moments where the characters gather themselves and re-assess. And, usually, they are really only dealing with one major problem at a time and all other problems that come up are off-shoots of the same main problem.

So, yeah, the "arcs" of the series all focus on one central issue, and usually an arc is all about just dealing with that issue.

So, yeah, even with this absolute gold-standard as an example to compare against, that outline mentioned at the top of the thread seems like it's a little much.

 

[Redadam04]

Arcs should be subdivided into different volumes. Or should stick to one volume.

 

[TsumiHokiro]

Arcs should be subdivided into different volumes. Or should stick to one volume.

Or you should end your story before it grows into a monster...

 

[Redadam04]

Or you should end your story before it grows into a monster...

Live long as a hero until you become a villain.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

That sounds like a fun story. As long as important people die instead of pulling a shadow slave and having them "barely survive" without major injuries or deaths... over, and over, and over, and over-
If they do die, it seems like my kind of story.
Do they? How's it called?

Now, in my story, HKN, I crank up the pressure from chapters 1 to 19 like a blast furnace. But after that, 20 is where it lets up and then, consistently, the MC starts to win. There are setbacks, but the winning is consistent because the MC is the goddamn determinator.

which is why I stopped reading it after I realised it's all gonna be smooth from there.

 

[Underload]

It's a pacing and character problem. Usually, in professional novels, the novel is split into books and each book is individually split into 3 or more acts. The first act is where the character is introduced and the trigger happens. In the second act, the characters try to figure things out, meet the trigger of the problem lose to it once, and escape. The third act is when the book reaches its final in terms of character development and the book agenda.

But, the books on this site and also other fanfic sites too, they don't understand or have the patience to write in such a strict fashion.
You have to understand that, the mere act of fighting a monster can be made into a complete book. The monster attacks and the characters go on the run. They are scared but vengeful or not. They go out to look for help, a monster hunter or something. The monster hunter wants something in return and they get it for him. The monster hunter agrees and dies, but not before revealing that he's a liar and they stole from the real hunter. They go to the hunter who denies help obviously. What I would do is pull the monster to him since he doesn't want to go to it. The hunter kills the monster and then when going to kill the mc, decides against it when he sees the mc's not hiding and takes him as his apprentice. Obviously, there are more monsters out in the world.

You see that's a book. This way you get everything, character development,t world development, and plot development.

On the other hand, this is the first chapter of the books on this and other fanfic and amateur writing sites.

 

[melchi]

Some people like that.

Look, there is a manga, There Were Times When I Wished You Were Dead
I started reading because it had the tag, Romance.

IT IS NOT A ROMANCE.

It is 110 chapters of PAIN.

the last 5 have started to turn t around, and I read the raws to see how it ends.

there are 2 chapters of romance and 1 chapter of AND THEY GOT MARRIED AND LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Talk about piling the coal. It's a goddamn TRAGEDY. That's my problem. You used the wrong tag. Asshole.

Now, in my story, HKN, I crank up the pressure from chapters 1 to 19 like a blast furnace. But after that, 20 is where it lets up and then, consistently, the MC starts to win. There are setbacks, but the winning is consistent because the MC is the goddamn determinator.

I also have a LOT of complaints about the story, because getting to chapter 20 is HARD. However, if you like this sort of story, anyone who makes it to chapter 20, LOVES my story.

It's odd. There is a demarcation. If you quit by chapter 19, you hate the story. If you are the type to push through, you love my story. I have almost nobody who goes, "MEH".

Some people just like it when the MC gets their teeth kicked in over and over.

HKN will never become a manga, yet There Were Times When I Wished You Were Dead is a manga. If there was any justice in this world, it would be reversed. So, hate to tell you this...

Your tastes may just be in the minority.

Maybe I am just weird because for a manga or anime that kind of a plot wouldn't bother me as much. When a novel is turned into a manga things get accelerated in terms of time it takes to consume it.

I really liked Akame ga kill. I never read the manga but that anime has people dying left and right. I think if it was a light novel though I wouldn't like it so much. Some of it is just the ultra fast pacing, in a written work some authors commit thousands of words to cement the tragic a character's death is.

Sorta, mulling over it in 30 mins instead of 3 hours.

 

[Corty]

So I am reading this story that is really good. I think I'm about halfway through and things were getting tense.

Too tense

Point being, and some people that are more professional can explain this better but lots of life-or-death situations piled one on top of each other.... well it kinda ruins things.

1.) main character gets cast in the abyss, claws his way back out solo.
2.) MC reunites with party only to find they are trapped and have to fight the boss get out.
3.) Party fights boss, barely winning.
4.) Leave dungeon, batter and bruised then get arrested by the gate guards for false charges.

See the problem with this outline?

At point 3 I'm gritting my teeth. At point 4 I just want to skip ahead or drop if I'm not invested in the characters because it is just too much.

Stories in real life can only take so much pressure before they pop. Maybe it is just me but when I see the tension just ratcheting up it makes me think the author is the guy who keeps shoveling coal into the boiler with a dump grin on their face waiting to see what will happen.

What Envy said. 110%. I don't know why people write like this. I myself feel tired when there is too much action, and I had to include fluff chapters after a big fight and resolution. I would go mad as a writer if I could do nothing but action after action.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Maybe I am just weird because for a manga or anime that kind of a plot wouldn't bother me as much. When a novel is turned into a manga things get accelerated in terms of time it takes to consume it.

I really liked Akame ga kill. I never read the manga but that anime has people dying left and right. I think if it was a light novel though I wouldn't like it so much. Some of it is just the ultra fast pacing, in a written work some authors commit thousands of words to cement the tragic a character's death is.

Sorta, mulling over it in 30 mins instead of 3 hours.

But I was sold a romance. There was a tag. ROMANCE. They meet in a rainstorm, spend one night in a cave, he falls in love, they are seperated for years. She is mind controled and forced to become his wife against his will, but he doesn't know she is his first love and he spends 79 CHAPTERS TORTURING HER. The next 31 chapters is him being a whiny bitch and wanting to kill himself because he tortured his "ONE TRUE LOVE" for years.

SO, you mean to tell me all those horrible things you did would have been OKAY, if it had just been done to someone else? YOU MONSTER.

I CHALLENGE ANYONE TO SHOW ME THE ROMANCE.

They lied. Some people might like that, but I hate being tricked into reading something I'm going to hate.